Trolley under runner



TROLLEY UNDER RUNNER Filed Aug. 10, 1945 FIGLZ Bnventor Herberf C. Hoover attorney:

FIG. 3

Patented Mar. 14, 1950 TROLLEY UNDER RUNNER Herbert 0. Hoover, Seattle, Wash., assignor to The Ohio Brass Company, Mansfield, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Application August 10, 1945, Serial No. 609,969

Claims.

This invention relates to trolley wire installations, and more especially to devices such as junction fittings, such as for switches or for crossovers, and to the under runners used in such fittings.

It is common practice in such installations to support upon a permanently installed back plate at a proper location (such for instance as a crossover) a removable one-piece crossover plate, of bronze or like conductive material, formed with integral depending under runners or guides for the trolley shoe or wheel. Appreciable wear occurs at such location, usually at the inner side of the runners at a curve, and when such wear has occurred in one of the under runners, or in more than one thereof, as to affect normal operation, it is current practice to remove the entire cross-over plate from the back plate,.and to replace it with a new cross-over plate. While this secures replacement of all the under runners at one time, it results also in very appreciable waste, for there may be considerably greater wear upon one under runner than upon another, but because of the wear of the one, the entire crossover plate must be removed and scrapped.

On the other hand, in the shops of trolley systems there is at all times available a considerable amount of short lengths of trolley wire, quite suitable for use, as far as wear and corn ductivity are concerned, but unsuited for installation because of the shortness of their lengths. These short lengths, like the scrapped under runher or switch plates, constitute also an economic waste.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide means for avoiding these two wastes, by providing shoe guiding elements or under runners, which preferably are individually replaceable and renewable when worn, but which in addition are provided with means for supporting and securing short lengths of trolley wire as the primary contact and wear elements, which themselves may be replaced and renewed when worn, to the end that the primary replacement need only be a short length of scrap trolley wire, and, at rare intervals, an individual under runner, but never an entire cross-over or switch plate.

It is, of course, a further object to provide such a fitting, having the advantages just indicated,

which is also capable of incorporation in any normal trolley wire system. Thus, it is an object to provide such a fitting which will receive and dead-end a length of trolley wire led in from a distant support, and which wire therefore produces tension lengthwise of the wire, and to,

and yet which will permit ready disconnection of the trolley wire or of the under runner which carries it, when the need arises.

It is a further object to provide such fitting in which short lengths of trolley wire can be readily secured and removed for replacement when desired, which is provided with simple and convenient means for leading in trolley wires or other fittings, and which finally is of simple and economical construction.

With such objects in mind, my invention com- 'prises the novel fitting and the novel under runners forming parts thereof, and their relative arrangement to one another, as-"shown in the accompanying drawings, described in this specification, and as will be more fully apparent from the appended claims. g

In the accompanying drawings the invention is embodied in a crossover plate, to illustrate principles which may be applied also to other fittings, and in a form which is at present the preferred form.

Figure 1 is a bottom plan View, with parts broken away, of a typical cross-over fitting and connecting elements.

Figure 2 is a partial section through the back plate substantially along the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, illustrating the under runner which supports and resists the endwise tension in a trolley wire of indefinite length, thus supported, and Figure fl is a similar section on the line 44 of Figure 1, illustrating a support for a short length of trolley wire.

As is customary, a back plate of steel, such as the back plate indicated at I, is permanently supported at the proper location by suitable guy wires and the like. Its permanence is, of course, relative to the temporary or readily replaceable characteristics of the under runners. The supporting means have been omitted, and would be in any event conventional. While this back plate .is charged and becomes a conductor of current,

' the under runners which it supports are of sufficient depth that this plate will never be contacted by the trolley shoe, for indeed, it is not properly shaped, being merely a flat plate. The

I connected to the back plate.

at 5. The member 2 is supported from the back plate 1 by screw 6 and to accommodateth'e anember 2 to a screw of proper size the member 2,15 quite wide, and the member 3 is in iturn supported from the member 2. The members! and 3 should be provided in rights and lefts, so that the member 3 may always belocated at theside where most wear occurs When worn, it ,may be necessary only to replace the member 3, which ,is ,most easily detachable, instead of the member '2, or both such members. Due "to the "cross- .sectional shape of the runners and of member '2 and their width, the *screwfi is obliquely illsposed tothe axes'of thescre'wsfi.

The other type "of .under runner is 'best-"s liown ;in Figure 3, 'aII'd'is intended 'forfthe securement oi the dead end of a trolley wire of extended length. "Such a trolley wire *7 is therefore r in- 'definitelength, rather than being "of ia length coequal with the corresponding supporting under runner, as is "the length 5.

The under runner or guide means which-supports ithe end of the wire 1 is preferably 7' formed in one piece, as .indicatedgatt, :and lsformed with :a channel its lower edge, Within the end :thewire *1 Jisflinsert'ed endwise deaderrdefd. The under runner 8 :is ,"supported {551cm :the'back plate I by screws 9. .isinc'e tire-wire 1 pulls endwise n the under runner 8, and the undertrunnerdlin turn pulls endwise onth'ei'back plate II, this .endwise pull 'isjresiste'd, as between .the underrunnerfl and the back plate '9,' b'y:'any suitable transverse interlocking integral "arrangement as indicated at 10, and the endwise ypull between the "under runner 8 and'the trolley wire 1 is resisted by "set screws 11 passing freely through elongated apertures 12 in the back-plate, and pinching into the "wire 1 as its upper lobelies within the 'channel in the runner 8,-'as "is best shown at the left in Figure 2.

In a "crossover, such as is shown in Figure 1, it is convenient :to supply 'a center diamond 13, as a-separate element, secured by-the'removable securing means'indi'cated at M to'th'e 'backplate 1. Whenever the diamond-becomes worn it ailone can be replaced.

,Since the wire sections aren't a length corresponding only to the length of the supporting under runners or clamps "2, "3, means are provided, is conventional, for leading *the trolley shoe onto the 'back-plate-supporte'd under runners. Thu-s, 'asshown at the lower-left in'Fi-gure 1, an insulator l5 leads a-troll'ey wire f6=onto the aligned under runner, and, 'as shown at the 'lower rightin Figure a curved runner l 'lis'siniilarly In such arrangeanen ts, as shown best in Figure 2, a -'c'onventional strain connection, "as indicated at l8, imay' be employeol.

Theunder runners 3, or 8 are readily securable to theunde'r side of the back plate, anil provisions nlay be made for "some slight transverse adjustment "for proper alignment. They 'are of such a depth that the trolley shoe can never connite length, such as I, is pushed endwise into place, within the channel of the member 8, and secured by the inclined strain-resisting set screws I I. The short lengths 5, on the other hand, are cut from appropriate lengths of scrap trolley wire, and are then clamped into place between the parts 2,3 .of the .underrunner of this type. Here these short lengths *cif trolley wire function adequately to carry current to and to guide the trolley shoe, and to take the wear thereof. Whenever Wear of such extent occurs that the shoe is noilonger properly guided, it may be necessary only to remove .the short lengths 5 and to sub- -;stltute a new short length of scrap trolley wire, .or to replace ,a .member 3, or a complete under runner "2, 3, or8. Should the wire I become worn, tliis ma'y be replaced for such length as is neces- ,-sary,,for it would undoubtedly be worn elsewhere than merely within the length dead-ended at the under runner 8.

Vibration da'mp'eners and similar devices may 'also be 'eirriployed, as is customary, but suchelemerits have been omitted, since they form no part of the present invention, and their inclusion would serve only to obscure the essentials of the present invention, as is set forth in *the following claims.

Ih e "same principles may be incorporated in other fittings than the cross over shown. A switch fittin g may' be thus arranged, to guide a current collectorcrossing in either-direction, and, in an instances, regardless of the angularity between the several under runners. Similar prinfciples, "as to individual under runners, may by r rineorporated i-in, ror example, a curved runner {for a fsi-njg'le "trolley shoe Fonly.

:runnjers or guides on any single device "would die :aecordin'g to that shown in "Fig. 3 "or 'thatislrown in Fig. 4. The two types oif runners are shown in each Figs. -1 and 2 only for descriptive and illustrative purposes.

1 claim a's -my invention:

1. iln a trolley-wire system, 'a permanentlyinstalled overhead supporting plate, an underrunner formed for the support "of a trolley wire 'by its upper lobe, means for .remova'bly-securing the under runnerto the lower surface of said plate, cooperating means formed-integral withthe plate andsaid under'runner to resist lengthwise tension in "the wire and prevent a shearing stress upon the ffirst saidmeans, the said cooperating fnreans on both the supporting plate and the 'underrunner extending transversely of the runner and an inclined set screw received in the underrunner and pinching the trolley wire supported thereby to resist the wires tension, the :plate having an elongated aperture for the free passage :of 2 said set screw.

2. A body member 'for a trolley d'evice comprising a plate-dike member adapted to receive along a face thereof a plurality of detachable :guide zmembers, lm'eans Yon the r plate arranged to receive holding z-means :to .detachably secure the guide membersinfixed position relative to the plate- 'like meniber,"theplatedike member provided with iopen'in'gs through which may extend securing zmeans without engaging the body memberwh'ere- :by {a trolley "wire .may :be secured :in each guide member.

3. Aibody-nre'niber for a'trolley'device comprising :a plate-like member adapted to receive a plurality of lrenewable guide members, means on the plate adapted to receive holding means to 25'601116 the guide members to .the plate member tact =-the back'plate; Ihe trolley wire of 'iinde'fi- '75 in relati'on ith'ereto, im'e'ans 'formedzinte'gral with the plate adapted to interlock with trans verse means on the guides to prevent a shearing stress upon the holding means therefor in a longitudinal direction, and securing means adapted to secure the trolley wire in the guide members after assembly of the guide members and the plate-like member, the plate-like member provided with openings for the free passage of the securing means.

4. An overhead trolley device comprising a body member, an under runner removably supported by and depending from the body member to guide a current collector but the runner not projecting longitudinally from the end or" the body member, the runner provided with a transverse groove on its upper edge and having a sec ond groove along its free edge to receive the end portion of a trolley wire, projecting means on the body member cooperating with the first said groove to prevent movement of the runner relative to the body member, securing means diagonally disposed to the longitudinal axis of the runner at a point between the center and end of the body member to engage and hold the trolley wire against longitudinal displacement, the said securing means and the runner provided with cooperating means whereby the said securing means may be moved into engagement with the trolley wire, and an opening in the body member through which the securing means extends free of the said body member.

5. In an overhead system, in combination, a plurality of trolley wires in a common plane with adjacent ends, the wires angularly spaced relative to each other, a crossing device arranged to receive the ends of the wires and hold them in predetermined relation, the said device comprising a permanently installed supporting member, a plurality of non-adjustable separately formed elongated guides of triangular cross-section, the wider face of each guide positioned against the lower face of the supporting member, each guide extending from but not projecting beyond the end of the supporting member to a point adjacent 6 each other at the center of the supporting member, holding means extending through the supporting member and into adjacent openings in each guide to detachably secure the guides to the lower face of the supporting member, each guide provided with a groove along its free edge parallel to and spaced from the supporting member and in alignment with a trolley wire, a trolley wire positioned in each groove with the face of the wire projecting below the guide and exposed to be engaged by a passing current collector, means associated with each guide to secure the associated trolley wire in its groove, and separate means associated with the supporting member and with each guide where the guides contact the supporting member, the last said means extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of the guides and so interlocked with the means on the supporting member as to resist the shearing stress upon the holding means due to the longitudinal pull of the trolley wires.

HERBERT C. HOOVER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 668,151 Baron Feb. 19, 1901 928, 57 Shissler July 13, 1909 1,211,010 Tighe Jan. 2, 1917 1,711,883 Forsyth May 7, 1929 1,912,177 Chandler May 30, 1933 2,013,355 Matthes Sept. 3, 1935 2,187,319 Genter Jan. 16, 1940 2,288,681 Chandler July 7, 1942 2,304,763 Matthes Dec. 8, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 238,466 Germany 1911 362,145 Great Britain Dec. 3, 931 603,006 France Apr. 7, 1926 

